The present invention relates to a device for the metered dispensation and registration of liquids dispensed from a bottle. The device includes a solenoid valve which is attached to the bottle neck. The solenoid valve is opened and closed magnetically, with the closed position being the rest position of the valve. The housing of the solenoid valve is provided with coding marks. The inventive device further includes an operating head having a receiving opening for the bottle neck with the solenoid valve, an operating coil for the solenoid valve and a reading facility for the coding marks. In addition, a stationary registration facility is provided, which is connected to the operating head.
A device of this type is described in German Offenlegungsschrift No. 2,548,442. In this case, a solenoid valve is inserted into the bottle neck. The housing of the solenoid valve protrudes from the bottle neck and is provided with coding marks on the outside of the housing portion protruding from the bottle neck. An operating head can be pushed onto the bottle neck. The operating head is connected, with the aid of a flexible cable, to a stationary registration facility. The bottle with the fitted operating head can then be handled normally, i.e., emptying is performed by standing the bottle on its head, with the emptying being controlled by the operating coil opening the solenoid valve for a certain time period. The opening time of the solenoid valve is correlated in the registration facility with a quantity of dispensed liquid, the type or price of which is recognized by the registration facility based upon the coding marks read.
The known device assumes that the dispensation of drinks is to be possible in various places. The connection of the operating head to the stationary registration facility means, however, that only very limited room for movement is available. The known device is only suitable for highly fluid substances which are dispensed in what are, with respect to magnitude, the same (small) quantities. The opening of the solenoid valve for a predetermined time does not permit the different viscosities of different drinks to be taken into account. Since several drinks are usually combined in one price group, and these drinks therefore receive the same coding, a differentiation according to viscosities cannot be implemented in practice. In the case of the known devices, considerable variations in the quantity of liquid dispensed, therefore, have to be accepted. A further disadvantage of the known devices is that the operating heads effecting the opening of the solenoid valves are held in the hand and, during the enclosure of their housing by the hand can be manipulated by means of magnets. In this way, drinks can be dispensed without being registered because the opening signal for the registration facility is not triggered.
Also, inexpensively producible and purely mechanically acting metering facilities are known which can be fitted into the respective bottle neck as a closure. The facilities remain connected to the bottle for the duration of the emptying process. A registration of the quantities of liquid dispensed is not provided for in this case.